Turn off Your Lights for Earth Hour

This is a guest post by Stephen Anfield. Stephen is currently working as the Benefits Outreach Project Coordinator at the AARP Foundation. He organizes the Benefits Access QuickLink volunteers and National Call Center.

It's time to make like Nelly Furtado and "turn off the lights" because tomorrow is March 26th, and millions of people all over the world will be recognizing one of the biggest global events of the year - Earth Hour! At 8:30pm (local time) on Saturday, hundreds of millions of people will turn off their lights and participate in this global sustainability movement.

Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and it was first introduced as a way to take a stand against climate change. In its first year, Earth Hour had approximately 2.2 million participants and more than 2,000 companies. Earth Hour 2010 saw the largest number of participants ever with 128 countries and territories making the commitment! Earth Hour 2011 is expected to be even bigger, and with its success a new initiative was born - Move Beyond the Hour.

Move Beyond the Hour, an extension of Earth Hour, encourages people to think of ways to take action to make our world a better place. There are plenty of ways to "move beyond the hour." I've decided that I will make sure all lights and electronics are turned off before I leave a room. Let's all follow Nelly Furtado's lead and "turn off the lights" this Earth Hour and "move beyond the hour" until Earth Hour 2012!

How will you take action?